I was hired to make a wedding cake for July but It will be my first square wedding cake... I need to purchase the pans!! I was looking into Magic Line and Fat Daddio's 14'', 10'' and 6'' - but I have NO CLUE what would be the better investment- 2'' deep or 3''? Experienced bakers comment only! HELP

Well I was going to add in a comment or two, since I've seen and asked this question myself... but I'm not an experienced baker, so I guess I'm out.

I personally like 2" pans, I find that the 3" take too long to bake. I also like a 4" tall tier. So when you bake two 2" cakes, level and fill...you come out to 4" tall. Also, I like Magic Line and only have FD in the larger odd sizes, which ML does not carry

it's all personal preference and what you offer as a standard for your cakes. I like to have 4"-4-1/2" tall cakes, so I bake two 2" cakes and torte each one. Other bakers use the 3" pans torte once or twice and use that as a tier.

So what do you want to offer?

It never hurts to have 3inch pans.

You CAN bake a 2 inch cake ina 3inch pan....but you can't bake a 3inch cake in a 2 inch pan.

I love 3 inch pans, but I don't always bake 3 inch cakes in them!

I'd go for the 2". I would never ever recommend baking a 3" square cake. Just tooooo long of a bake - makes for dry cake and a whole host of other issues.

Wow. Thanks so much for the replies!! I went with Fat Daddio's square pan set in the 2'' depth ( Magic Line was sold out of the sizes I needed) I and figure since I prefer a 4'' height- it should be perfect. I also had concerns about the extended cooking time for the 3''- thanks for clearing that up for me!

Fat Daddios pans are good, and they are easier to clean than Magic Line. I already had all my Magic Line and supplemented them with the larger odd square sizes. Fat Daddios seems to brown more on the sides...but maybe it's just my recipe, I still use baking strips for anything 8" and above (left over from the Wilton pan days) and haven't tried them without). I also use upside flower nails.

I used to own 3" pans, and yes, I could bake a 2" cake...but there were times that the cake would would crack when coming out, just that little bit of travel where the cooling rack was not butted up against the cake..

I vote for the 2" pans also. The 3" deep pans just don't bake right for me. But then I do not like FD pans at all. Yes, they're easier to clean, but they also bake "funny."

I purchased the 7 piece set (ranging from 4''- 14'') off of the FD website for $98 including shipping. Not a bad deal. I can't wait to try them so I can reply back!

I have a mix. 2" ML square pans and 3" springform round pans. I actually like the 3" better since by the time I level my cake it's about 2 inches anyways...makes for a 4 inch cake once filled and settled.